Chelsea Holds Off Angola for First Win

The Chelsea football team held off a late fourth-quarter rally to pick up its first win of the season by taking down Angola, Indiana 22-20 Friday night.

Coming off a season-opening loss where the Bulldogs were held out of the endzone for the first time since 2014, the Bulldogs offense showed a big improvement in week two as they came out and struck early with a seven-yard TD pass from Lucas Dawson to Tyson Hill for a 7-0 lead.

The lead did not last long when Angola returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

Early in the second, the Bulldogs struck again when Hill busted through from ten yards out for a 14-7 lead.

Following the touchdown, the Hornets drove to the Chelsea 12-yard line, but the Bulldogs defense held and forced a turnover on down.

Chelsea would drive into Angola territory, but an interception ended the drive at the 10-yard line and the half would end with Chelsea leading 14-7.

The Chelsea defense stopped Angola on fourth down to start the second half and four plays later Dawson hit Reagan Plank with a 48-yard scoring pass. The Bulldogs made a two-point conversion to push the lead to 22-7 and looked to be in control, but Angola was not done.

Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Hornets scored on a 24-yard run and the extra point cut the Chelsea lead to 22-14.

Thomas Shemwell picks up some yardage against Angola. Photo by Mike Williamson

The Bulldogs were forced to punt and a few plays later, Angola busted free for a 54-yard TD run. The two-point conversion failed and kept the score at 22-20.

Chelsea was forced to punt once again and after a penalty, Angola took over at the 45-yard line with 5:30 left.

Angola quickly moved to the Bulldogs 28, but Konnor Kilgore stripped the ball from a Hornets runner to give Chelsea the ball with 3:39 left.

On second down, Dawson broke loose for a 27-yard run to the Angola 47, and the Bulldogs would run out the clock from there.

Dawson finished 10 of 16 passing for 155 yards and two scores and rushed for 37 yards on six carries.

Plank caught one pass for 48 yards and a score, while Max Herter caught one pass for 31 yards. Dom Searl caught two passes for 23 yards, Hill two for 22 and a score, and Hunter Sciackitano two for 14.

Hill carried the ball 11 times for 67 yards and a score, and Thomas Shemwell 12 for 56.

The Bulldogs travel to Jackson Friday night for the SEC White opener against the Vikings at 7:00 PM.

Photos by Mike Williamson